Four
volumes in the EMI British Composers
series were issued this month (November
2007) all themed around war and remembrance.
This two disc set features two works
linked by war and by Wilfred Owen. The
Bliss relates to the Great War and the
Britten to the Second World War although
it has Great war references as well.
Bliss saw frontline action in that war;
Britten did not. Both men lived through
the war that gave birth to these works
so in that sense they speak of the marks
left by their respective conflicts.
Bliss lived through the Second World
War as well but that war did not draw
any second work from him. The only relevant
link between Britten’s War Requiem
and Bliss is that the Coventry Festival
for which the Requiem was written also
saw the premiere of another major work
by Bliss: his The Beatitudes.
Despite its inherent attractions the
Britten Requiem rather eclipsed
Bliss’s work which most regrettably
has been little heard since and still
awaits recording.

When the Rattle
version of the War Requiem came out in 1986 it had all
the benefits of digital technology but faced the composer’s
own masterly Decca recording which sounds good to this day.
It was only the second recording of the War Requiem,
the oxygen of competition having been sucked out by the all-conquering
Decca box. In fact it remains a viable alternative with two
British male singers alongside the Swedish Söderström. There
was an undeniable spiritual symbolism in the Decca line-up:
a Briton, a Russian and a German. Vishnevskaya however tended
to be unyielding. Söderström was better at projecting humanity.
The sound of Peter Pears’ quavering tenor is an acquired taste
although in this case the bray remains low-key. I never acquired
the taste for his voice although I recognise I am in the minority
here. I am delighted to have Robert Tear in his place and Thomas
Allen instead of the original DF-D. It is a really good digital
recording and performance but it still struggles against the
Decca original.

The Bliss comes first
in this two CD slimline-set. It’s on the first CD together with
the Requiem Aeternam section of the War Requiem with
the rest of the Britten following on CD2. The Bliss is an unequivocal
and deeply-felt work. It adopts the anthologising format, drawing
on words and poetry across the centuries. The dedication is to the memory of Francis Kennard Bliss – Bliss’s brother - who
was killed in action. There are five movements across eight tracks
in this unusually scored work. The touching music for Hector’s
Farewell to Andromache is deft, lissom and feline and the
heroic yet not unduly stagey voice of the actor John Westbrook
(1922-1989) is memorable. Westbrook worked mainly in the theatre
but his most famous role was in Roger Corman's Poe film The
Tomb of Ligeia. His voice is well-tempered and the hoarse
outbursts register with such force because of his reserve and
his careful weighting of words and dynamics. Listen to him in
that first movement when he calls out, hoarse with outrage and
anger, to “Zeus and all ye gods ...” His skill as an actor also
provides awesome colouring to the words “… and may he bring with
him bloodstained spoils …” That impulse can be felt again in the
words: “Pre-eminent among the Trojans!”. The Whitman setting of
The City Arming is majestic, bustling and thronged and
with the big sound of the Liverpool Philharmonic Choir put across
with great power. There are some moments of respite but what lingers
in the memory is potency of activity veering on hysteria which
Bliss drew on again for the city air-raid scenes in Things
To Come. This compares with the smooth, steadier, resolved
tone of the choir in the movement: By the bivouac’s fitful
flame. The awestruck grunt and groan of the brass in Achilles
goes to battle is just as memorable as the ‘roll call’ of bloodied
heroes blasted out in golden choral tone. Then we return to Westbrook’s
extraordinary oratory in Wilfred Owen’s ‘Spring Offensive’ first
lulling and then explosive as the khaki lines rush out into the
exposed field of fire. The word ‘Exposed!’ comes as an almost
physical blow. Then after the ravages of shrapnel and bullet given
striking emphasis by the timpani Westbrook finds a different –
even sentimental - cadence for the words: “Some say God caught
them even before they fell.” Is it sentimentality or did Owen
intend a sardonic edge. More convincingly emotional are the desperately
moving words “Why speak they not of comrades that went under?”
The final movement is a choral setting of Robert Nichols’ poem
“Dawn on the Somme”. Finally the choir sings of “Th’ invincible
sun” and of the “Morning Heroes”. The horns then bellow in protest
and those remorseless drums return.

This version of
Morning Heroes faces some competition. The only one currently
available is from 1992 on Cala CACD 1010 with Brian Blessed
as orator and Michael Kibblewhite conducting various London
choirs and the LPO. This was recorded on 16-17 November 1991
and 26 January 1992 at All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak. Blessed
throws himself into the oration with an abandon which Westbrook’s
great classical restraint throws into sharp relief. If you prefer
a more overtly emotional delivery then go for the Cala. The
other version has been deleted for quite some time. It’s on
BBC Radio classics 15656 91992 issued in 1997 but presenting
a BBC studio tape from the Maida Vale Studios, London on 12
August 1982. It’s byRichard Baker (orator), the BBC Symphony
Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus and Charles Groves. This strikes
a path between the two versions but for my taste it’s the Westbrook
that carries the day.

There are no texts
provided for either the Bliss or the Britten though the notes
are full and extremely helpful. No, if you want the words you
must track these down over the internet. I tried in vain.

For me this slimline
2CD set is invaluable for the Bliss which has only once previously
been issued on CD and that was in 1991 on CDM7 63906-2. It soon
disappeared. You would do well to track this set down before it
too disappears from the scene.

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